07/19/08 — As it moves into its second decade, the City of Meadville’s skateboard park is looking a bit frayed around the edges. So frayed, in fact, that Mike Fisher, executive director of Meadville Area Recreation Complex, is worried about the safety of the facility, which is located on the grounds of the complex.

“It was built in 1998 — and the people who built it said it had a seven- to eight-year life expectancy,” Fisher told members of Meadville Area Recreation Authority during their monthly meeting Friday morning. The way things look now, he added, they were right.

As to why he was involving the authority in a city issue, “It’s a city park, but when problems occur, we hear about it,” he said.

Wear, tear and advancing age appear to be the fundamental issues; after a brief tour of the park, board members agreed the park seems to be structurally sound, although some wooden portions of the structure are missing and sections of the Skatelite material covering the ramps has definitely seen better days. “There should be some concern about liability,” Chairman Joe McDougal remarked after the tour.

Fisher’s concerns aren’t new. In fact, he talked to Meadville City Manager Joe Chriest about the condition of the ramps early in the skateboarding season and Chriest sent repair crews to the site. Friday, Fisher was seeking a go-ahead from the authority to talk to city council about stepping up the effort. Chriest was not available for comment.

According to the attendance report compiled by the complex, a total of 1,500 users made use of the skateboard facility during June. Although it pales next to activity in the pool, that total is the second-highest summer user rate in the complex — far ahead of the 875 who used the baseball fields and the 750 who made use of the tennis courts during public sessions.

When authority member David Boughton observed that the numbers were good, “They would go up if we had better equipment,” Fisher responded. “A lot of dedicated skateboarders use that park.”

The problem, he continued, is that skateboarding doesn’t have parents’ organizations.

According to Fisher, options for improving the facility are available. For example, skate park equipment is on the list of eligible projects for Pennsylvania’s Department of Conservation and Natural Resources’ Growing Greener grants. However, Growing Greener grants require matching funds — and the park belongs to the city.

A walk down memory lane

When Fisher goes before city council, Councilmember LeRoy Stearns will be waiting.

“Perhaps we need to do a fundraiser to raise money to repair the park to the way it originally was,” Stearns said when contacted by the Tribune Friday.

In fact, if he can get all the interested parties to agree on what needs to be done, he’s even willing to put the fundraising committee together himself. “My personal goal is to save the skate park,” Stearns said. However, he added, “it’s going to have to be a joint effort. I really feel it’s very important that if the kids are enjoying it — and they’re using it for free — it’s important for them to get involved.”

Juanita Hampton agrees. Executive director of Crawford County Convention and Visitor’s Bureau, she also played an active role in establishing the original skate park.

“The kids helped build it in the first place,” she recalled Friday. “At the first meeting we had, 30 kids showed up. At the second, 80 kids showed up.” Her skateboarders are now grown, but she’d be delighted to see the park continue. “This is an opportunity for youth to help their community, to rally together to save that skate park.”

Gary Johnson is now the city’s zoning administrator. Back in the day, however, he was involved in that initial effort — but not as a skateboarder. He was a musician — and he and some musician friends put together an organization called “Musicians for Skaters” to raise money for skate parks by putting on concerts.

“We went to city councils at Greenville, Oil City, Titusville and Meadville,” recalled Johnson, who was a Greenville resident at the time. “Meadville was the only one that was receptive.” Once Stearns and Hampton got involved, he added, the idea really took off.

“I think a fundraiser would be great,” Johnson said, noting that a concert his group staged at the Academy Theatre was a great success. “It worked before — and maybe it can work again.”

Stearns is confident something will work. The skate park is a project he’s always believed in because it kept a majority of the kids off the streets in the city, but that’s not all. A city ordinance prohibiting the use of skateboards except in the skate park doesn’t leave skateboarders any other option. “As long as the use is high, I’m willing to try to save it,” he said.

As for whether the physical state of the ramps is some sort of a violation, the ramps are considered to be equipment and therefore aren’t covered under the building code, Johnson said, slipping on his official hat.



Mary Spicer can be reached at 724-6370 or by e-mail at mspicer@meadvilletribune.com